Vending apparatus.



J. WHISTLER & R. A. DUDEGK.

VENDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 14, 1909.-

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@Hiouwg- J. WHISTLER & R. A. DUDBGK. VENDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 14, 1909.

962,283, Patented June 21, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 3- gq r JOHN WHISTLER AND RICHARD A. DUDEGK, OF ST.LOUIS, MISSOURI.

VENDING APPARATUS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN WHISTLER and RICHARD A. DUDECK, citizens ofthe United States, residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Vending Apparatus, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to an apparatus for containing and vendingnewspapers, sheet music and other like articles, its object being toprovide a simple, reliable and inexpensive type of vending device whichmay be attached to and supported from the back of a car seat or othersupport and actuated upon the deposit of a prescribed denomination ofcoin for the discharge of a single newspaper or other article at a time.

The invention consists of the features of construction, combination andarrangement of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is aperspective view showing the application of the invention to the back ofa car seat. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the device showing the cover ordoor section thrown open. Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section on anenlarged scale through one end of the casing, and showing thecoin-controlled actuating mechanism. Figs. 4 and 5 are transversesections on the lines 4-4 and 55 of Fig. 8. Fig. 6 is a cross sectionthrough the rotary goods holder or reel.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates an elongated cylindrical casing,having end heads or walls 2 and 3, and a hinge or pivoted door or cover4 adapted to close an opening in the upper rear portion of said casing.The door is provided at its free edge with a hasp 5 adapted to engage astaple 6 on the casing, to which staple a padlock 7 may be applied tohold the door closed and prevent access to the interior of the casing byan unauthorized person, but any other suitable type of locking means maybe employed. The casing is provided with bracket arms 8 or with othersuitable attaching elements by which it may be fastened to the back 9 ofa car seat, opera chair or any other suitable support.

A partition 10 subdivides the interior of the easing into a magazine ordispensing compartment 11 and a chamber or compartment 12 for theinclosure of the coin-controlled operating mechanism. In the compartment12 are bearing blocks or members Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 14, 1909.

Patented June 21, 1910.

Serial No. 495,944.

wall 2 of the casing is a longitudinal shaft 15, the latter-named end ofthe shaft being angular in form and arranged to project beyond saidhead, as indicated at 16, so that a crank or key may be applied theretofor turning the shaft to enable the contents of the magazine remainingunsold at any certain date to be turned into position for removal andconveniently relieved of old articles and replenished with new oneswithout the necessity of operating the coin-controlled mechanism asuccessive number of times. The portion of the shaft inclosed within themagazine compartment 11 is provided with a series of U-shaped or channelholders 17 secured to each other and to the shaft and projectinglongitudinally and radially from the latter, so as to form a reel havinga number of individual pockets, channels or holders to receive anequivalent number of folded newspapers or other articles to be sold. Theshaft is adapted to be intermittently operated by the coincontrolledactuating mechanism to successively bring the ends of the pocketsadjacent to head 2 into registry with an outlet slot 18 formed bycutting away portions of the head and door, which slot is of sufficientsize for the insertion of the thumb and forefinger to enable the exposednewspaper or article to be grasped and withdrawn.

The coin-controlled mechanism comprises a hub or drum 19 fixed to theshaft between the bearings 13 and 14, and provided with a series ofperipheral packets 20 equal in number to the reel pockets and eachadapted to receive a portion of a coin 21 of a prescribed denomination.These pockets are arranged successively registering in the rotation ofthe drum with a coin chute 22 carried by the cover and communicatingwith a coin insertion slot 23 formed in said cover. A U-shapedoscillating shaft or bracket 24 is journaled in the bearing 14 and head3 and has secured thereto an arm or lever 25 having its inner end 26projecting over the circumference of the drum and its outer end providedwith an operating handle 27 movable in a slot 28 formed between the head3 and adjacent end of the door or cover 4. This lever is normallymovable without turning the drum 19, but as soon as a coin of the properdenomination is inserted into the slot and enters the registering pocket20,

the projecting portion of the coin is arranged in the path of movementof the end 26 of the lever and forms a connection between the lever anddrum, whereby when the lever is moved forwardly the drum will be turneda distance equal to the space between the adjacent pockets. A spring 29connects the lever with the head 3 and returns the lever after eachactuation t normal position.

The partition 10 is free for rotary movement in the casing 1 and isfixed to the shaft 15 and serves as an actuating disk or wheel. Thispartition, disk or wheel is provided at its side adjacent the bearing 13with a series of stops or projections 30 equal in number to the holders17 and slots 20. These projections are normally engaged by the inner endof a locking dog 31 pivoted intermediately to the bearing 13, as at 32,to swing into and out of the path of said projections, the opposite endor arm of said dog being provided with a depending trip 33 having aforwardly bent or cam shaped extremity 34, adaptedto partially overlythe drum pocket 20 which is in receiving position, so that the coininserted in said pocket will also engage said trip arm. The dog isnormally maintained in looking position by a spring 35 connecting thetrip arm with the bearing 13, and which serves to return said dog aftereach releasing movement to normal position. The shaft 15 carries aratchet wheel 36, the teeth of which are engaged by a spring actuatedpawl 37 on the bearing 13, by which the shaft and reel are lockedagainst retracted movement, but are permitted to be intermediately fedforward by the coin-controlled mechanism.

In operation it will be understood that all the pockets of the reelexcept when disposed in alinement with the extraction slot 18 are filledwith rolled or folded copies of the newspaper, sheet music or otherarticle to be vended, and that upon the insertion of a proper coin inthe slot 23, said coin will drop by gravity into the registering slot 20in the drum 19, so that its projecting portion will engage the rearsurface of the trip 33 and front surface of the end 26 of the actuatinglever 25. Hence when the handle 27 is turned forward in the slot 28, thelever 25 will engage the coin and force the same against the cam trip33, by which the trip arm of the lever will be elevated against theresistance of the spring 35, while the locking arm of said lever will bedisposed below the plane of the projection 30 engaged thereby, thusfreeing the reel and drum for rotation, so that they may be turned bythe movement of the lever to the extent suflicient to bring the nextpocket in the direct-ion of rotation into registry with the slot 18.

Upon the release of the lever the parts of the coin-controlled mechanismwill then return to normal position, ready for a succeeding operation,while through the turning of the reel as before described, one of thepapers or articles contained in the magazine is exposed at the slot 18,allowing it to be extracted by the purchaser.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that our inventionprovides a simple, reliable and effective vending apparatus of thecharacter and for the purpose set forth, which apparatus provides for aready and convenient vending of newspapers or other articles in compactform for dispensation.

It will be understood that while the coincontrolled mechanism cannot beoperated until a proper coin is deposited to turn the reel forwardly,the pawl and ratchet mechanism also provides backward rotation of thereel, so that the latter cannot be turned for the surreptitious removalof an article until the proper purchase priceis prepaid.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

A vending apparatus embodying a rotary member provided with a series ofstops, means for holding said member from retrograde rotation, a drumfixed to the rotary member in spaced relation thereto and provided witha series of pockets to partially receive the inserted coins, a pivotedlocking lever arranged between the rotary member and drum and having oneend arranged to engage said stops and its other end provided with aright angularly bent trip arm adapted to be engaged by a coin in thereceiving pocket, said arm being provided with a laterally bent tip, anoperating device ar ranged to engage the coin and impart motion to thedrum and simultaneously release said locking lever, and a spring forreturning the lever to normal position.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

JOHN WHISTLER. RICHARD A. DUDECK.

Witnesses:

FRANK WHISTLER, JOHN G. NELSON.

